Your favorite chain marking techniques

[Al - s/v Persephone]

I'd like to solicit inputs from fellow sailors on the effectiveness, durability and price of the various techniques they've used to mark their all-chain rodes.I want a way to mark my 5/16" G4 every 5 fathoms that is easy to see (even in dim lighting conditions), and will pass through the 172 chain gipsy on my Simpson-Lawrence windlass without becoming confetti. Cost is secondary, but I'm not interested in gold or platinum strips <g>.Suggestions are welcome, but I'm most interested in real-world experience reports.Fair winds.

 

[JP Jomini]

A simple spray can?

I just flake my chain on the dock and use a can of spray paint to mark the chain every 10 feet, painting 5 links inside and out. Some of the paint will flake off, but I can redo this every season at virtually no cost. I have seen people do color patterns too...

 

[Ross]

The bright day-glo colors

would be best. once you have painted from both sides it will be nearly imposible to completely obliterate the paint.

 

[Rich Stidger]

I use color-coded HD wire ties

They are faster to put on than paint and can be moved if you rotate your chain for even wear. No messy over-spray issues either.I use the 1/4" wide 6-8" long variety and I find that they are easily visible in all conditions. Every couple of years I renew them.They are available in day-glo colors too.

 

[Ed Schenck]

HD wire ties?

Rich, what exactly are they and where do you purchase them? What is your method for color-coding so that you know how many feet payed out?

 

[Rich Stidger]

HD wire ties are

simply 'heavy' ties- thicker and wider for a given length. Sometimes regular and 'HD' heavy-duty are available from the same source (like my favorite Jamestown Distributors, see link, p59 of their catalog).I set my first tie mark at 50' (RED) because I never use less than 50' regardless of depth. I then use a single YELLOW at 60', 70', 80', and 90'. At 100' I use TWO RED. Then for 110' to 140' I use single YELLOW ties again. At 150' I use THREE RED. And so on.... My max chain is 160', then I go on to 9/16" nylon. I have not used the nylon since I increased my chain from my original 40' to 160'.It is easy to know if you are between 50-100 or 100-150, so counting the yellow ties as they go out makes measuring the chain length a snap. Or you could put TWO YELLOW between 110-140' and THREE YELLOW from 160-190' if you tend to zone out when you are mindlessly paying out the chain....

 

[Fred Ficarra]

And Rich?

How do you attach them to your chain? You know, around just one side of a link or at the joint? Or??

 

[Liam]

Paint works great

Get a roll of 2" duct tape and a can of white rustoleum paint. At your first mark rap one loop of tape around the chain. At second mark rap two loops with an equal space between them. At third mark wrap three, etc, etc.Spray paint the chain on all sides six inches or so of either side of the tape loops. Let the paint dry and peel off the tape. You will end up with sections of chain that is painted white with non-painted stripes in the middle.You can see the "negative" stripes even on the darkest night. And they are big enough to see and count while passing through a moving windlass.Don't paint the dock!

 

[Rich Stidger]

Fred, I attach the ties....

around one side of the link. And I pull it tight so that the ties sticks out and is not just a tie looped through the link.

 

[Franklin]

paint and foot stripes

I am planning on painting stripes on my rode this spring using a spray can. Each stripe will stand for 20'. So at 20' there will be one stripe. At 80' there will be 4 stripes. I like this approach better then different colors because I don't have to remember what each color stands for.